Future
by lindsayandhalstead
Summary: Linstead one year, two years, and twenty years from now. 3-shot.
1. One Year From Now

**A/N: This was a prompt I got on tumblr based off the comment Jay makes in the deleted scene in 4x04.**

 **So this will be a three-shot, showing Erin and Jay 1 year from now, 2 years from now, and 20 years from now.**

* * *

Erin Lindsay does not panic. She has always prided herself on keeping her cool, even in the worst of events. But realizing she is almost a week late for her period makes her want to curl on the floor of the bathroom and never leave.

"Babe, we have to go, or we'll be late." Again, he silently adds. They have been driving to work together for a while, but Erin's bathroom shenanigans often caused them to come to work at the last minute. For an almost ridiculously punctual guy, it's a challenge to say the very least.

"Coming!" She shouts from the bathroom, with a voice a little shakier than normal. She would just have to deal with this later.

"Erin? What is with you today?" He asks her, while they are driving to a case location. She has been quiet and withdrawn all morning, and he is starting to get worried. Her hands are clenching the steering wheel to the point her knuckles are white, and she refuses to make eye contact with him. On top of that, he is pretty sure she hasn't heard a word of what he just said.

"Sorry, just a little distracted. You were saying?"

"Everyone from Med is doing this thing for charity, and Natalie's sitter cancelled, and nobody else is free tomorrow, so he asked if we could take him for the night."

She almost runs the car off the road. This isn't happening. Is this some karma thing? Did she do something bad to the universe lately?

"Whoa, what is going on?"

"It was a cat," she lies, mentally cursing herself. Right, a cat, on a street of Chicago. Nice one, Erin. A very believable lie.

He, however, apparently accepts this explanation without suspicion. "So? What should I tell Will?"

She gulps, pulling into the parking lot of the address they are headed to. Focusing on driving buys her a couple more seconds to process everything. "It's fine, I guess?"

He smiles and starts texting Will. Erin suddenly feels so guilty about not telling him. But it's not the time. Or the place.

Jay finishes the text and puts his phone away. Just before exiting the car, she brushes her hand lightly against his. He catches her hand and entwines their fingers. He can feel something is off, but she obviously does not want to talk about it yet. The only thing he can do is to respect that and be there for her, regardless if he knows what she's upset about.

With newly found strength, she loses herself in the case, and forgets about it until the evening.

* * *

"Babe? You okay in there?"

"Yup. I'll be out in a minute," she manages to get out with a shaky voice. She is holding the unopened box with the pregnancy test. Her heart is going at it so hard, she thinks she's having a heart attack.

He must sense that something is wrong, because she can hear him hovering in front of the bathroom door. She could still do the test now and tell him later. By then she would already know about it. But she doesn't really want to.

She has been aching to tell him all day, and it doesn't seem fair anymore. Jay is just as much a part of this, as she is. And she doesn't want to betray the partnership they have or the trust they have established. The cold water she throws in her face feels good. It takes some of the flush away, and she feels her head clear a little, but she knows that the second she steps out of the door, he will know something is off. That is the downside of having someone know you, better than you know yourself.

She creaks the door open, cursing herself for being such a coward. Jay is standing there, looking at her with confusion and worry as she comes out.

"We need to talk." He nods, and they move to the living room of their apartment. The window is open, and the brisk winter air feels good to her burning cheeks.

"Babe, if something is wrong, just tell me. We'll deal with it together, whatever it is."

She makes a poor attempt to smile, but she appreciates the words nonetheless. This is what their relationship is. Dealing with whatever came their way together. And it may have taken her a while to get that, but she does get it now.

"I'm..." She fumbles with the hem of her shirt, fidgeting nervously. His fingers wrap around her hand, holding them in place. His warmth calms her down, with an almost soothing effect. She swallows and finally says it. Those words that always make her cringe, when she hears it in romantic movies.

"I'm late. As in, _late_ late."

His eyes widen, and his body stills for a second. She can see that a million thoughts are going through his head, but she can't read a single one of them.

"Have you done a test?" He asks, almost incredulously. His lips form a smile that makes her insides turn into mush. His arms go around her and pull her closer, until their foreheads are pressed together.

"Stop smiling, I'm freaking out here," she mutters, and he scans her carefully. "And no, I haven't. I was just about to, but you were hovering outside the bathroom."

"Freaking out about what? We love each other. We talked about it. It's something we both want. It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world," he reasons with her. "Maybe the timing caught us off guard, but that's it."

"My dad is a criminal, and my mom is an addict, and I'm an addict. Our child is going to have bad genes. Sometimes, a mother can pass that onto her child. Or maybe it would be unhealthy, because of…" Her voice shakes slightly as she gets the words out, and he understands with perfect clarity how scared she must be. He sees her dilemma in her eyes. She wants this, but she is scared of the consequences of her drug abuse.

"Erin, look at me." He pulls her chin up until his eyes meet hers. "Regardless of what that test says, one day we'll have a baby. And he is going to be so incredibly lucky. He will have a brave, kind-hearted, passionate mother who will burn down the world, before she lets anything happen to him. Or her." She can feel a tear escaping the corner of her eyes and make its way down her cheek. And then she sees it. She sees a picture of a family and she knows that, despite doubts they would make it.

"Let's just do the damn test," she whispers, a smile creeping on her face. He smiles back and leans down to kiss her.

It turns out, she was just late.

It would be a lie to say she didn't feel just a bit disappointed by the turn out of events, but she knows the timing would not have been right. She wants to feel ready. As ready as one can feel about being a parent. How ready can you really be?

She asks Hank one time in the future, and he just laughs and shakes his head.

"You're never ready."

But they do babysit Owen that week, and she gets to practice for the future. Owen is a good baby, she thinks. He doesn't scream hysterically or eat messily. He's the epitome of good parenting. If they ever do this thing, she should definitely get some parenting advice from Natalie. She has done a great job so far.

"He's cute," she murmurs at Jay, and he chuckles as a reply. She has been hogging him all night and he doesn't really blame her. He saw the flicker of disappointment in her eyes when the test showed only one bar. "All babies are cute," he replies. He watches her, a half sleeping Owen in her arms, as she leans carefully against him. His arms automatically embrace her, and his mind goes places.

"Ours will be the cutest," she teases. He laughs and nods.

"Of course, I mean have you seen us? Best gene pool a kid could get."

They joke around a bit longer, before putting Owen to sleep. They had agreed that Natalie would pick him up in the morning, so they wouldn't have to wake him up, if she got back late. They tuck him in and read him a story, but he's already half asleep by the third page.

"Are they all this good?"

"Ours probably won't be," he teases and they laugh, knowing he's probably right.

But he will be theirs, and that's all that counts.


	2. Two Years From Now

**A/N: Thanks for the lovely feedback! I hope you guys enjoy the remainder of this story.**

* * *

"Have we met? You look so familiar," Jay chuckles when he approaches her. She's wearing a strapless green pencil dress that ends just above her knees and her hair is falling loosely down her shoulders. She always looks beautiful to him, but it's so rare she gets to doll up, so he enjoys the view.

"Picking up women at a wedding? What a cliché," she smirks back, but accepts the flute of champagne he offers her.

"At a wedding of my ex-girlfriend, even. I really am a cliché," they laugh together and she leans against him for a moment. The occasions like these are rare, where they get to be normal people, just a couple, attending a wedding of two of their friends. No hiding, no pretending.

"This is nice," she murmurs, and her arms sneaks around his waist. He hums in agreement and presses a kiss on her temple.

"Excuse me, the bride will not throw the bouquet, so all the single ladies gather round."

True enough, Gabby is holding her bridal bouquet, made of yellow lilies and white roses. It's a beautiful arrangement. The yellow and white complement her skin tone, but nothing shines brighter than the happiness in her eyes. Louie walks with her, clutching her dress, and smiles happily.

"You're up," Jay smirks at Erin and gives her a small push.

There is not a lot of unmarried women at the wedding. She stands next to Sylvie, who still hasn't decided to tie the knot with Antonio, but Erin knows it's just a question of time. Then there is Kim, who just got back together with Adam, which also comes as no surprise. Natalie joins them after a moment's hesitation and she can see Will pushing Nina to come too.

She doesn't even want the stupid thing, so then why does she smile when it lands in her hands? For just a moment, she allows herself to imagine all of it. Then she hears people commenting.

"Finally!"

"It's about time." She shoots a glare at Kim.

"Jay will have to step up his game now." That's Will, for sure.

Jay just laughs, and wraps an arm around her. He knows she doesn't think much of marriage, and he hates to see this pressure being put on her. He presses a soft kiss to her side. He doesn't care if they ever get married. As long as she stays by his side, he's fine with living in sin.

* * *

After hard days at work, Erin loves to just snuggle up on the couch and do absolutely nothing. It just so happens, she also has the best pillow she could ask for.

She moves to accommodate herself until she's comfortable. Half of her body covers Jay's. She has always admired the fact that their bodies seem to fit together, like two right pieces of the puzzle. His torso is the perfect resting place for her head, and his fingers are rubbing circles onto her back. She feels herself drifting away.

She's content. Happy. She never thought she would get to this place in her life, but she's happy. She feels that if she spends the rest of her life doing what she does; catching the bad guys, and cuddling with Jay in her free time, she would be completely content to do that.

She feels his slow breaths beneath her; she feels the slow but steady beating of his heart.

She knows he won't take the first step. He's always let her be the one to set the pace to their relationship, and as a person in desperate need of some control, she's beyond grateful for that. But she loves him, and she's not going anywhere. Ever.

"We should get married," she murmurs, quietly, carefully.

She feels his breath stop and seconds later he moves to sit up. His eyes shine brightly with all the love he feels for her, and, for a while, he's rendered speechless. She feels her breathing normalize again. It's not a big flashy proposal. It's not a big pompous scene. But then again, if it were, it would not be them.

"I know you don't have much reason to believe in marriage," she continues. "You certainly had no reason to. Neither did I. For the first few years of my life, I thought love was a myth. But then Hank and Camille took me in, and I saw what a marriage could be." If only she can stop her heart from beating so erratically, maybe she can get the rest of this out. She takes a deep breath and continues.

"I wanted that. Since I was just a girl," she admits. "I didn't believe anyone would ever love me that way."

His hand finds hers, and their fingers intertwine like it's what they are meant to do. He opens his mouth to say something, but her finger on his lips stops him. He nods in understanding.

"But you do," she nods. "This, you and me? This is forever. I don't ever want to be with anyone else, Jay. I believe in us. I don't believe in much, but I do believe in us."

She gulps and looks at him, giving him permission to speak now. Her eyes scan him, searching for an answer. His lips slowly spread into a genuine smile. As always, her words reflect how he feels. He believes in them too.

"I thought you'd never ask," he murmurs and lets himself to be lost in the depth of her eyes and the warmth of her kiss. "I believe in us too."

And he would spend the rest of his life defying the odds, just to prove her how much.

"At least now, I don't have to ask Voight for permission," he ponders thoughtfully.

They're both lying in bed, their bodies warm and flush against each other. She's looking at him, her chin propped on his chest, and she chuckles at his statement.

"You should still ask him," she teases.

"Did you ask Will for my hand in marriage?" He questions and they both laugh at how ridiculous that sounds.

"What do you think he'll say?"

"He'll be happy that I'm happy," she assures him, and they leave it at that.

* * *

"We need to tell you something," she says to Hank, while Jay and her are both standing in his office. Jay looks a little scared and it's just one more thing she loves about him. The fact he cares so much about what Hank thinks about him and them, only proves how much he loves her and wants to get along with her family.

He raises his eyebrows but doesn't make any comment. He knew this day was coming since he found out they moved in together.

"What's up?"

"We're getting married." Erin has to give it to Jay, he says it with such confidence and his voice doesn't even tremble, but she does see his hand shaking just a bit. "We would like your blessing."

"Huh," is the first thing Hank says. "You got her to agree to that, you don't need my blessing." He smiles widely, ruffling Erin's hair when she pouts at him.

"For your information, it was my idea."

Hank exchanges a knowing glance with Jay and nods. "Well, then I believe congratulations are in order?"

And just like that, all is right with the world.


	3. 20 Years From Now

**A/N: We have reached the conclusion of this story, as this was a three-shot. Thank you for all the lovely feedback, and I hope you enjoy this last installment.**

* * *

"Mom? Can I ask you a sort of personal question?"

Erin raises her eyebrow at her daughter and nods. "Shoot."

"When did you know that you loved Dad?"

Erin's eyes close in a surge of melancholy. She has to close them, in order to hide the sudden tears that appear. She knew this day would come the day she gave birth to Cami.

She recalls those first moments when she realized she was in love with Jay. She remembers that walk they took together, around the lake, and how he knew all the bird's names, and how she thought it was adorable. How he insisted on holding her hand, and how she secretly loved the feel of his hand in hers. How he laughed that day, and she thought that she could spend the rest of her life with him. She remembers thinking it when she kissed him that time on the couch, to thank him for never giving up on her. She remembers saying it for the first time, in a car, at a red traffic light.

"I don't remember the exact time I fell in love with him. I think it must have been pretty early on. And I remember being near a lake, and he kept pointing out these weird birds to me. He tried to catch one, which obviously didn't work out so well. But he made me laugh, and when he laughed, it was my favourite sound. That was the moment I knew, I wanted to hear his laughter for the rest of my life. "

"Was that after grandpa Voight gave you two permission?"

"You've been talking to Kim again, haven't you?"

Cami giggles and nods. "She has all the best stories about you and dad. You always skip the good ones."

"Oh Lord, I'm scared," she murmurs, making her daughter giggle delightedly. "Do you want to tell me what this is about?"

"Not yet." That's the only response she gets, and she doesn't like to pry.

Erin wakes up to the delicious smell of fresh coffee. Putting on only her bathrobe, she wanders out of the bedroom to the kitchen, where breakfast is in the making. Her hands wrap around Jay's torso from behind as she presses a light kiss to his back. He turns and gives her a proper kiss before turning back and continuing. She pours herself a cup of coffee and sits down at the kitchen aisle.

It is pretty early, so the house is still quiet.

"We have to talk about Camille," he murmurs. She grins, knowing exactly what this is about.

"Erin, she came in last night, an hour after curfew. She didn't even call to say she was going to be late."

"You're right, this is serious. Her grades have also gone from A to A+." He rolls his eyes at her, when the object of his frustration walks through the door. He glances at his seventeen-year-old daughter. She looks so much like Erin, it is ridiculous. She had inherited her kind eyes, the dimples, the stubborn chin, and also the knack to make him crazy.

She sits down with a cup of tea, waiting for her dad to finish breakfast. She takes a deep breath, obviously trying to gather courage for something.

"I have an announcement to make," she states, and they both turn their attention to her.

"I know I was late last night, and you know I don't usually do that. I'm sorry." Erin glances at Jay and sees him nod almost proudly. But that wasn't all their little angel had to say. "I just wanted to share this with you, because I trust you not to make a big deal out of it." She takes another breath, exhaling loudly. "I met this guy a couple of weeks ago." If it wasn't for years of self-control, Erin would have laughed out loud at the expression her husband makes. His eyes widen so much, she's surprised they don't fall out.

"Last night, he wanted to talk to me. And well, he's my boyfriend now." Erin can't remember, if she had ever seen her daughter blush, but now the redness of her cheeks could be compared to a serious sunburn.

"You have a boyfriend," Erin adds. "What's his name?"

"Theo."

Jay still hadn't snapped out of his state of numbness. "Dad?"

Erin glances at him again, with an amused expression and nudges her daughter. "Why don't you give us a sec, sweetie?"

Camille takes the welcome excuse to get out of the room but stops behind the wall when she hears her mother's voice, calm but stern.

"Jay, you knew this moment would come. And she told us, because she trusts us. I think we did a pretty good job."

"She's seventeen. She's practically a baby! There is no way in hell I'm letting her date this guy!"

"I can assure you, she's no baby. And don't even make me remind you of the things you did, when you were seventeen."

"Exactly, I know perfectly well what goes on in the heads of teenage boys. Which is why I'm not letting her leave the house again. Maybe we can have her home-schooled?"

"You're being unreasonable. If you overreact now, she'll never tell you anything again," she murmurs softly, her hand laid on his chest. He looks down at her, taking her in. She's still beautiful, and whenever he looks at her, he always sees the badass cop that can handle a criminal better than he ever could. His lips curve into a smile at that, and she knows it's a win when she catches his lips into a gentle kiss.

"What would I do without you?"

"Let's hope you never have to find out," she chuckles.

"Fine, but you're having _the talk_ with her, not me."

She is still laughing when she calls Cami to come for breakfast. As they sit down around the table, she can tell her daughter is scared, and Jay still a little uneasy.

"I was thinking, maybe we could have Theo over for dinner sometime?" Erin suggests to lighten up the mood.

Cami's eyes sparkle as she nods, her smile lighting up the room. She glances at her dad, an unsaid question in the air between them.

"I'm not saying it's easy for me. You're my little girl. But I'm glad that you told us, and I trust you."

Cami shoots a grateful look to her mom and mouths a silent 'thanks _'_ , before she throws herself into her father's arms.

* * *

"Well?"

"Okay, okay," he mumbles and throws his hands in the air. "I was wrong. He is a very polite young man, with a lot of ambition, which I liked."

She giggles and nuzzles her head into his neck. Her hands are wrapped around his waist and they're standing in the kitchen after the dreaded dinner they hosted, in order to meet Cami's boyfriend, Theo. She had to admit, despite her affinity for bad boys, her daughter had chosen a boy not-so-unlike her father.

After all, Jay really was a gentleman. Most of the time.

"I still ran a background check on him," he murmurs against her causing her to chuckle. "I had to be sure, okay? It's my baby girl we are talking about." Erin just shakes her head and laughs at him, until he captures her lips in a kiss and makes better use of them.

Camille is standing at the entrance of the house, just gotten back from saying goodbye to Theo. She looks at her parents' embrace with happiness. The love her father still feels for her mother makes her heart ache with joy and fill it with yearning. She watches them go upstairs and sees her mother playfully hitting her father's butt.

She knows most teenagers would be grossed out by that kind of behaviour from their parents, but to her it means they love each other. And their house has never not been full of love.

Since she can remember, her parents have filled their home with unconditional love. She remembers the kisses she caught when she was little, and all the ones she had seen while growing up. She recalls the murmured 'I love you's', and the hushed words of worry when one of them was in danger.

Sure, there were fights; and even then, her father never raised his hand upon her mother, and nothing was broken. Ever. Except for that one time, when Mom got so pissed that she threw a fruit bowl at Dad, but that doesn't count, because they both ended up laughing at her poor aim. The shouting Cami had witnessed was usually about one worrying for the other, and it never lasted long. She never had to see her father storm out of the door drunk, like her friend Anne did every week; and she never had to find her mother overdosed on the floor, like her classmate Mike did. In fact, the only time anyone hit anyone in this house was as a joke. And the only drug in the house was the bottomless amounts of beer that everyone drank during baseball finals.

It wasn't always like that. Cami knows about her mother's history. About her grandmother, Bunny−the one she doesn't see that much. She knows about how her other grandmother, Camille, whose name she carries on, and grandpa Voight saved her mom's life. It always amuses her when people say that she, and his other grandson, were the only people able to wrap Voight around their fingers. She knows it's not true, because she has seen her mother do it too.

Their family is full of people who love each other, like uncle Will and aunt Nina, but there is more. This family has so much extended family that their yard is barely big enough when they all come. The firefighters, and the paramedics, and police officers.

She ponders for a moment longer, about how lucky she is that she has never had to starve for love, or go to sleep hungry. She never had to feel like she has no one in her corner. She knows it's in a large amount due to her parents, and she never had trouble seeing that. She has always felt grateful.

"Hey, sweetie, what are you still doing up?" Erin sneaks into the kitchen, watching her daughter, who appears to be in deep thoughts.

"Just thinking, I guess," Cami admits. "About our family."

"It's pretty great, isn't it?"

Her daughter nods, and steals a quick hug. "I love you, mom."

"I love you more," Erin assures her, and hugs her tight. Years ago, everyone kept saying that she should hug her little girl while she could, because there would come a time when she wouldn't want her mother's hugs anymore. But that time never came for them, and she hopes it never will.

"We're having hug sessions and nobody called me?" Cami feels her dad's strong arms embrace both of them tightly. Nothing ever feels safer than this.

The laughter echoes around the house for minutes after, while a family shares a snack in the late-night kitchen. Laughter has never been a stranger to this house.

They've had a pretty good run so far, Cami thinks while spooning ice cream into her mouth. And the best thing about it is, it's not even close to being over.


End file.
